The Crimson Lord of the First Star
by cressray
Summary: A young mercenary uses his powers to help Yuri and the gang along their adeventures. (Warning: This fanfic starts as Zaude is being summoned and has content from the Japanese version of the game.)


**As per my usual standards for spoilers and explanations, I'll be posting clarifying explanations (if any) at the bottom of each chapter. I'll also answer questions from reviews at the start of my newest chapter, so look forward to your non-spoiler questions being answered.**

**Chapter 1: The Summoning of Zaude**

A bright flash rippled across the sky towards the Great Ocean, waking a young swordsman from his midday nap against a tree overlooking the ocean from a secluded portion of the Yurzorean coast. Even in the somewhat hidden northwestern continent of Terca Lumeris, the massive beam of light that burst from the direction of Zaphias was plainly visible for the few seconds it existed.

"That looks ominous enough…" The boy said to himself as he stretched out, fully aware that there was no one around to answer him.

"You're still going to investigate it, aren't you?" The voice of a young girl, most likely no older than 10 by how she sounded, rang out clearly from nearby, yet the boy remained alone on the ocean cliff.

"It looks like money, so of course I'm going." The boy stated bluntly as he looked at the belt he was wearing.

The belt was made of the same black leather as any other belt on Yurzorea, but it had a small, dully glowing orb situated where the buckle should have been.

"You're always thinking about money… Haven't you ever wanted to save the world, and maybe for free?" The girl's voice rang out once more, and at the same time the orb blinked softly in synchronization with the words.

"You're pretty obnoxious for a blastia." The boy retorted. "But it's because saving the world will bring me fortune that I want to go. At least, that's what happens in stories. That or the hero goes unrecognized for his actions."

"And you're willing to bet on that so easily?"

"I'm a mercenary, not a gambler. Whoever made that light is bound to have at least one enemy, so I'll just choose the winning side and have them pay me later." He smiled mischievously as he stated his plan.

"You're an idiot."

"I'm poor."

"You're still an idiot."

"I have a blastia and weapons. I don't care if I'm an idiot as long as I can defend myself and make a living."

"Then go kill that Giganto that's been rumored to live around here."

"I'm not _that_ desperate…" The boy laughed loudly at his belt. "At the very least I'd need one other person to fight it on equal footing."

"So you're hell-bent on getting involved with that light?"

"Pretty much. The bigger question is how long can you support me before you get worn out?"

"Six hours, even with your fighting style."

The boy smiled brightly. The blastia core on his belt glowed in a soft azure light and a crystal-like bow appeared in the boy's hands. He aimed the bow at the ocean far below him and pulled the string back, creating an icy arrow that launched itself at the water, which in turn created a small patch of frozen ocean where it landed. The boy jumped down and landed on the ice patch, then began firing arrows ahead of him, slowly creating a frozen bridge toward where the beam of light that had woken him had vanished.

* * *

"Burn to death, Burst Cannon!" The boy held out the flaming katana in his hand, pointing it at the mass of aquatic monsters in front of him. The spell he had just cast sent a massive ball of fire down the hallway, incinerating enemy and building alike.

"You're really going all out, aren't you?" The sword and blastia glowed in unison as the girl's voice resounded through the now scorched hallway.

"Shut it. You should know by now that this is the most efficient method…" The boy stated calmly as he trudged toward the door at the end of the hallway. As he reached out for the door's handle, he stopped moving as held his breath, listening to the sounds of combat on the other side.

"Real combat?" The girl's voice pierced the silence.

"Just do your job." The boy chided her, then opened the door.

"Azure Edge!"

"Fireball!"

"Demon Fang!"

"Star Stroke!"

The four shouts rang out amidst the sounds of battle, followed by their respective attacks rushing toward a man in the direct center of the fight.

"Triple Shot! Aer Light!" The man activated a few of his own artes, slightly amused at his opponent's efforts.

The boy studied the battle for a few seconds before moving toward the five combatants.

"You've decided?" The blastia asked, trading out his katana for a pair of dark brown pistols.

"For now…" The boy responded quietly. "Mirage Shot! Brimstone War! Howling Shot!" The boy's guns began spraying the area around the lone man with bullets, creating small explosions of rocky shrapnel whenever a bullet hit the ground.

Having attracted the attention of all five combatants with his surprise attack, the boy merely held his guns together against his chest and focused.

"Earthen spirits, seek the voice that guides you and pierce our enemies. Ground Dasher!"

The boy fired a single shot near the man, creating a spell that was all too familiar to the other four fighters. The three groups backed away from each other in the wake of the attack.

"He didn't attack us, so he's an ally, right Yuri?" A pink-haired girl in a fairly flashy white dress asked one of her comrades.

"Appears so." The tall, black-haired man she had addressed replied coldly, appearing to be more interested in returning to the fight.

"At least for now." A blond-haired knight standing between the pair stated as though he knew they would be in danger soon.

"Can we just decide this later? I'd rather not give Yeager any more time to rest." A short, brown-haired girl growled angrily at them, already in the process of casting. "O beating of the earth, sacrifice thy body and crush mine enemies… Ground Dasher!"

"Earthen spirits, seek the voice that guides you and pierce our enemies. Ground Dasher!"

The two identical spells activated simultaneously, forcing Yeager to backstep out of range.

"Now, now kids, play nice, ya?" He said in a thick accent and pointed his gun-scythe at the boy, recognizing him as a bigger threat.

"Time to say bye-bye! Caress of Death!"

Yeager looked at the mostly unfazed boy, his powerful Mystic Arte having done almost no damage.

"Going all out already? Or do you have a stronger attack that you wanted to save?" The boy said emotionlessly, the guns in his hands turning into a pitch black scythe.

Yeager merely clicked his tongue and pointed his weapon at the brown haired girl instead.

"I can't have you killing my future employers." The boy said, getting between Yeager and his target.

"Little boy want to dance with death, ya?" Yeager retorted, slightly disgusted at the boy's actions.

"I'm actually a horrible dancer." The boy launched forward as he spoke, swinging his scythe in a wide arc in front of him.

"Malice Wave!"

A black wall of dark energy burst forth from the swing, almost knocking Yeager off balance.

"Shadow Dragon Rush!"

The boy followed his first attack with a quick series of twirls, forcing Yeager to retreat even more.

"Wrath Shot!"

The boy held out his scythe like a gun and a large high speed black bullet erupted from the weapon, exploding just short of its target.

"Just finish him and be over with it." The belt blastia said, quickly approaching the end of her patience.

"Fine, fine…" The boy replied quietly. "I'm very sorry mister, but you're going to die in a few seconds. If you have any last words, now is the time to say them."

Yeager merely stood still, staring dumbfounded at the overconfident boy.

"I guess you don't have anything on your mind." The boy said after a few seconds of silence. "Overlimit…"

A soft black glow surrounded the boy, though it was the same as any other Overlimit despite being differently colored.

"Wrath Shot!"

The black bullet from earlier was fired again, missing Yeager by inches.

"Burst Arte: Disruption Strike!"

The boy momentarily disappeared, though his figure quickly erupted from Yeager's shadow as the boy brought his scythe up in a narrowly dodged arc.

"Ancient spirits of Hell, guide my blade as it reaps this soul. In a flash… Vanish Instant!"

The boy brought his scythe back down as he chanted his incantation, a mass of black energy bursting from the edge of the blade. When the boy said the attack's name, he rushed forward, nearly invisible against the dark energy as he made a single horizontal slash, cutting into Yeager's chest.

Yeager stumbled backward once more, his hands desperately trying to keep the softly glowing blastia that had replaced his heart from showing, though the small sparks it emitted displayed a shallow slash mark directly across the center of the flashing orb.

"Young man, come close." Yeager's barely audible voice rang out through the now silent room as he collapsed to the ground.

The boy nodded slightly and released his scythe, the weapon fading into aer when the boy stopped holding it.

"Save Alexei… His heart is right, ya… But his sword is tainted…" Yeager spoke through his pain.

The boy nodded once more and stood up before calmly walking toward the door that led deeper into the underwater temple.

"Wait!" The pink haired girl shouted at his back as she rushed toward him. "Who are you?"

"Reimu Kouji, mercenary for hire." The boy responded without looking behind him.

"I'm Raika, if you were wondering." The belt blastia stated matter-of-factly, an obvious tint of anger in her disembodied voice.

"I'm Estelle. It's so very nice to meet you." The girl smiled at him innocently.

"Lady Estellise…" The blond knight moaned loudly, smacking his hand against his forehead.

"Unless you wish to hire me, I'll be taking my leave now." Reimu said bluntly.

"Wait a minute." This time Yuri spoke up.

Reimu turned sharply on his heel and dropped into a defensive stance on instinct.

"Are you really planning on fighting Alexei by yourself?"

"I have no obligations to the dead or people who aren't paying me, but the light that created this place seemed like something that could bring our world to ruin." Despite Reimu's cryptic, ill-boding words, his voice and expression maintained the same unnatural calmness as usual.

"And I can assume you won't help us without payment?"

"Correct, though the payment doesn't have to be in Gald." Reimu said, as though expecting some form of collateral from them.

"You can have me." Rita said quietly, surprising everyone else in the room.

"Sorry if you take this the wrong way, but what?" Reimu asked, still somehow maintaining his unnatural composure.

"I'll do anything you want if you let me do research on your blastia."

"Well look at that Reimu. We solved your woman problems!" Raika said enthusiastically.

"Shut up…" He punched his belt hard, ending up hurting his hand instead of his blastia. He then turned back to Rita and spoke. "Look, I appreciate the offer and all, but saying you'll do anything has a lot of weight to it, especially from a cute girl to a man she doesn't know and probably won't meet again. I could just as easily spend the night with you in the nearest inn and be gone in the morning as I could be nice and ask something simple of you." He explained, his expression finally shifting from its usual uncaring calmness to a slight look of worry for the mentality of the girl he was lecturing.

"I understand that much. That's why I don't mind. Besides, I'd do anything to get a chance to work with a new blastia, so who it's attached to is none of my concern after completing the agreement." Despite her words, she was blushing several shades of pink and looking at the ground near her feet.

"If that's truly how you feel… Be my girlfriend. Our contract will last as long as we remain a couple, giving you the same amount of time to research my blastia. Does that sound fair?" Reimu asked, his unnaturally calm expression once more returning to his face.

"I could just as easily finish my research in a day as I could take an extraordinarily long time making sure I understand every last detail." Rita replied, mimicking his earlier words to her, but still blushing slightly.

"Well look at that… I didn't think Rita was actually capable of having feelings for another human being." Yuri commented from the background, forcing the pair to realize that they weren't the only ones in the room.

"S-shut up! I'm repaying him for saving me earlier!" Rita shouted at him, her face shifting from light pink to a dangerous looking shade of crimson.

"Miss Mordio, regardless of your intentions, there are better ways to repay someone than with your body." Flynn joined in on the argument, though he had turned an almost identical shade of crimson to Rita.

"I think it's a good thing that you've found someone you like Rita!" Estelle chimed in brightly, a blatantly innocent smile across her face as she failed to grasp the whole situation.

Reimu interjected with a loud clap before turning around and heading toward the doors leading further into Zaude, breaking everyone from their argument and forcing them to catch up to him as Raika cackled loudly from Reimu's belt, muttering something about "love-struck youth" and "the similarities between the new couple" in between her laughing fits.

* * *

"Oh, it's Yuri and the others." The voice of a small child echoed off the walls of the underground shrine.

"Oh, it's the shrimp and the others." Rita replied bluntly, appearing to be in the process of deciding which spell to use on the boy as he rushed toward Yuri's group.

"It's nice to see you too Karol." Estelle said, her innocent smile returning in full force.

"We were beginning to wonder when y'all'd show up." A middle aged man in loose purple clothes spoke out from beside a barely dressed woman with what appeared to be strange antenna, a dog, and a small girl dressed as a pirate.

"Shut up old man!" Rita shouted, charging up a spell circle and sending a set of fire balls toward her new target.

"You guys are definitely the strangest group I've been around…" Reimu muttered, his passive expression remaining on his face despite the slight laughter hidden in his voice.

"A new addition to the group?" The taller of the two new women asked as the two groups met up.

"Reimu Kouji, mercenary under hire. It's an honor to meet a Krityan on the mainland." Reimu said, not at all showing any more emotion than he had been in the recent minutes. Judith, on the other hand, looked slightly surprised at his name.

"Somethin' wrong Judith darlin'?" Raven asked, apparently the only person to notice Judith's change in expression.

"No, just surprised that Yuri has a friend with manners."

"You know, I don't exactly make friends with my employers." Reimu interjected, hoping to quickly get them off the topic and onto another conversation.

"That's not what I'd've thought from the contract you just made with our little genius here." Yuri said with his attempt at an innocent smile, finally provoking a reaction from Reimu that involved a quick hand movement and a small tear spontaneously appearing on the right shoulder of Yuri's shirt.

"What's this about a contract with Rita?" Raven asked enthusiastically, obviously hoping it was something at least vaguely erotic.

"Rita and Reimu are dating now." Estelle said happily, making the pair in question turn identical shades of pink and look at the floor in opposite directions from each other.

"Oh?" Judith faked a gasp and smiled innocently, more amused by the pair's reaction than the reason behind it.

"Our little Rita's finally growing up…" Raven said sarcastically, earning him a pair of massive blasts of fire from the still blushing pair, who had managed to turn tomato red in the meantime.

"Can we please continue?" Flynn finally spoke out, trying to stop the small scale war between his fellow group members.

Reimu nodded wordlessly and marched forward without a second thought, while Rita returned to looking at the ground in front of her while she walked next to him, leaving the rest of the group to follow them.

**For those who are wondering, Reimu is actually barely older than Rita, having turned 16 shortly before his entrance into the group. As most of you might have figured out, his weapons are based off the purification of each of the six elements in the game, plus a lighting based weapon to show how he view the difference between wind and electricity based artes. One of my favorite things about creating Reimu was trying to figure out how he could swap between the elements quickly while still making it seem believable (by Terca Lumeris standards mind you), so I took the idea of talking weapons from Tales of Destiny and twisted it a bit until Raika was created. I won't explain how (mostly because I don't really know how either), but Raika and Reimu are capable of a limited form of telepathy, hence why he can change elements without needing to make it known, but also giving him and Raika a reason to legitimately hold conversations (because the telepathy only works for weapon swapping). I also kinda enjoyed a minor moment when I thought "What would happen if I took the Multiple Mystic Arte system from earlier games (where you had to chain your Mystic Arte to a specific skill to activate it) and just made it a 'One Element – One Mystic' rule?". So I rammed my head against the keyboard I was using (which I do regret doing) and created a separate Mystic Arte for each element, so Reimu ended up with seven different movesets and fighting styles that needed to be improvised into his character, which I'm hoping will go decently once his other weapons begin to make appearances (because his bow and katana weren't really used enough to be of any importance in this chapter…).**

**Look forward to a new chapter coming out at some point (I'm writing three other fanfics while in a foreign country for the next three months), and check out my other fanfics if you want. Please also try to write a review, as I take reader input to heart when it's given.**


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